Stop using weight & what the scales say as the be all and end all of your training. This picture is a perfect example both girls weigh 60kg but their body fat %’s and shape and tone are totally different. Bottom line muscle weighs more than fat, the scale might go up, your body fat % will go down.. Test body fat not weight or take measurements..

Elevation Performance tests bodyfat % and takes clients skinfolds as part of Metabolic Analytics Assessment – to give our clients personalised training, nutrition and supplementation strategies for faster and maintainable results.

-Anthony

What do I mean by fluffy training? Lying on (or actually anything on) Powerplate is a waste of time in my opinion. I can only think of one practical purpose for these machines and it has zero to do with training. Powerplates are right up there with body blades in terms of a total waste of time, money and energy. Some other examples of fluffy training include Sandbell training, triceps kickbacks with little pink dumbbells, Glute kickbacks on a smith machine or cable.Some trainers don’t even make it to the fluffy exercises because they spend the entire session performing mobilisers.

What where the clients goals again?

The way I see things is that mobilisations are important to enable a client to improve range of motion and effectiveness of (proper) exercises. I have all of my clients perform mobilisation and activation exercises before we train, but we do not spend the entire session on them! My clients want to lose body fat or gain muscle mass ASAP so we need to actually f@#ken train.

If any of the above sounds like a session your trainer has put you through, you should ask for your money back.

I had a interesting conversation yesterday, a friend of mine who is a bit older told me he has been training hard (or at least his definition of hard) and was drinking what he described as a protein shake about twice a day. Nothing weird so for until he later went on to tell me that when his doctor completed his blood work and the results came back and he was actually pre-diabetic.

Now I am not sure what brand of so called protein he was using but he was also mixing it with skim milk – which for if you don’t know is just normal milk with some fat taken out leaving it with a higher sugar content.

As far as the protein well you must check the label and you want to find the brand with the highest protein content per 100g ideally around 85% plus. Cheaper brands and weight gain powders are usually around 50 – 75% protein with the rest being sugar all you are actually getting is a slightly higher protein milkshake which is not ideal if you are trying to drop bodyfat and increase lean muscle mass.

My advice is maybe avoid the protein shake all together use BCAA’s. If you must have a shake ensure that you can tolerate dairy then go for a WPI or WPC with at least 85% protein and mix it with water, coconut water.

I also recommend getting your doctor to run some blood tests, but I will go into that in more detail another time.

Food can be a very topical debate there is so many conflicting opinions about what we should and shouldn’t be eating and no food has divided opinions in recent times more than wheat.

Did you know that 2 slices of whole wheat bread spike your blood sugar more than 2 table spoons of sugar?

Wheat is a staple food for most people, for crying out loud it is referenced in the bible – with Jesus breaking bread with his disciples. Wheat or flour has changed a lot over the last 2 and bit thousand years but have humans changed enough in that time to be able to digest it?

The book answers all of these questions and more – we can look and isolate many factors in why people today are fatter and sicker than every before and we are told that we should eat 7 – 12 serves of healthy whole grains a day – but as you read this book you will discover that this is one of the worst things you can be eating.

Is the answer going gluten free? yes, but not by replacing wheat products with their gluten free counterparts. There is a whole chapter discussing how gluten free foods, while they are gluten and wheat free they still spike blood sugars into dangerous territory as well as increase cholesterol, reduce bone density cause inflammation and a whole host of other negative effects.

The book is easy to read, thought provoking and well researched – I had heard a lot the points raised in the book before but now I have the studies and literature to back up those points.

Put down your toast, ditch your cereal, say arrivederci to your pasta and pizza if you want to banish your Wheat Belly.

I rate this book 4.5 out of 5.

Enjoy – ps your kids should watch this too.

-Anthony

Here is a video with some of the most commonly asked questions, in his workshops and seminars. I hope you take the time to watch it and believe me you will learn heaps.

-Anthony

Elevation Performance has moved and will now operate from Fit’n’Fast South Yarra.

To celebrate the new move we are offering you the chance to test us out – come in for a complimentary 1hr training session or BioSignature consult. Both valued at $80. To take us up on this offer simply email mail@elevationperformance.com.au with your details and we will be in touch to arrange a suitable time.

I have been feeling ordinary for probably the last 2 years. I am not sick – my blood work is all clear but I am feeling flat and lethargic. I exercise 4 – 6 times per week and my motivation fluctuates. I know how it feels to feel great and bounce up out of bed ready to jump into anything that life will throw me – but that has gone and seems a distant memory. I have tried heaps of things to try and regain that feeling – I suspected my adrenal glands where tired so I gave up coffee for a month and didn’t really feel better, made significant changes to my diet but that didn’t seem to work either. Tested my digestion and that seems ok. So I decided to try a detox / cleanse to see if this will help me. I want to focus on 2 main areas – the first is to give my digestive system and break and chance to recover and rebuild. The second reason is to detoxify my liver – the liver is an extremely important organ and I think mine may be a bit slugglish.

I must also say that I really want to drop some body fat – I have been training hard and have increased size and a lot of strength too since Christmas but I am now the heaviest I have ever been which isn’t ideal because I am tried to increase my running (interval based) but I am struggling with the extra weight. ( I now understand now why AFL footballers can’t pack on too much muscle over the preseason!!)

My problem areas are: my upper legs and my mid section. Thanks to my Biosignature qualification I know that the hormones I need to target.  My Goal = Single Digit bodyfat and currently 21.9% and I weigh 88.8kgs

I will be using Medical foods and some Liver support supplements as well as eating 1 green vegetable per day.

My supplements are set out for the morning are set out:

1 Serve of Fibre (15g – Primal Fiber)

I then jump in the shower then I have my first meal of the day:

Estrogenomics Px Vanilla (2 Scoops in Water) + 10 BCAA + P1P2 Balance (for Liver detox)

Followed by 2tbs of L-Glutamine in water

I then went to the gym Today’s work out was Back / Pulling Exercises I also threw in 4 sets of Squats and 3 sets of Front squats.

Returning from the gym 12pm I have another   Estrogenomics Px Vanilla (2 Scoops in Water) + 10 BCAA’s + P1P2 Balance

About 2pmI am a little bit annoyed at myself I was suppose to of already prepared my broccoli but  I need to take off for work so I have a Phyto Px (Mixture of vital greens and reds)

I trained a couple of clients and now I am feeling a dull headache nothing major I wolf down another shake this time it a Inflam Px Mango OMG that is not a good flavour – actually that was hard work getting that one down.

Trained another client then headed home. It hard to explain I am not starving but I really really want to eat. I jump out of my car and I can smell food yum. I jump in the lift yep someone one level 1 is cooking up a storm. I finally reach my apartment great I can finally eat – woohoo tonights dinner Broccoli : ) I also had a second serve of Phyto Px.

I demolish my broccoli and just before I go to bed I have another shake this time Estrogenomics Px Chocolate (2 Scoops in Water) + 10 BCAA and some Zinc and Magnesium.

My first day wasn’t too bad I did get a dull headache but it I was able to cope and it faded once I consumed another shake.

10 Biomarkers of Aging (that you control)

1. Muscle mass

2. Strength

3. BMI body mass index

4. Body fat %

5. Aerobic capacity

6. Blood sugar tolerance

7. Cholesterol

8. Blood Pressure

9. Bone density

10. Temperature regulation

Says a lot I believe – we need to learn to let go – learn and move on!

Too many people hold do stew over things when things don’t seem to go right – negativity is extremely dangerous and it saps your energy and will.

Anthony